How to Rent out Your Timeshare - Timeshare Rental Guide for Owners!

link to live Advice Article: How to Rent your Timeshare

Note this article is intended to help owners rent Timeshare weeks they own personally (as rentals of Timeshare Exchanges are in most cases prohibited by all the major exchange companies)!

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU ASK FOR YOUR WEEK?

• Pretend you are looking to rent your OWN timeshare and see what is currently available on the TUG Rental Marketplace as well as other valid rental platforms like Ebay/Craigslist/etc, tug provides a list of Frequently mentioned resale and rental companies for this purpose. Seeing what you yourself could rent for right now gives you a great starting point for determining how much you can ask for your own rental! Search using the name of your resort (in quotes if more than one word), and various words such as timeshare, rent or rental, and the name of the state in which the timeshare is located. Mix and match these terms to come up with different sites that might list rentals for your resort. Here, as with some other sources, you'll need to do some interpolation of rates, because (for example) that week 27 on the beach listed for rent will fetch a much higher rent than your week 20 in cooler weather before school gets out. That's what the rate sheet that you get from the resort is for - to make comparisons.
• You can also use the TUG Global Search feature to find threads and topics about your resort and rentals!
• Inquire if your resort has an existing rental program or similar. Existing owners or guests of the resort are some of the best possible people you can find as renters for your own weeks!
• Check the Getaway or Bonus week inventory at II or RCI for the location and dates for your planned to rental. If there are such weeks available for rent in the same general area as your resort, you might have trouble renting your week, even if your week is at a different resort. Take those rental prices into account in setting your price. If someone can rent your own week for less than you are offering using another site, they are likely to choose that option instead!

After you have gathered as much evidence as you can on what similar weeks at your resort rent for, consider that you likely don't have the same advertising clout that the resort and some other listings do. If you choose to use any or many of the sources you have searched to advertise your week, you should be able to get as much rent as anyone else on that site. But if you really want to rent it, price it below what others are asking and significantly below what your resort asks for similar rentals.


WHERE SHOULD YOU ADVERTISE?


To enhance your chances for a successful rental experience, here are three additional suggestions:

• Never ever pay an up-front fee (except for a nominal $15-$30 classified ad fee) to list your week for rent. Success rates after making such payments are between poor and non-existent!
• Read the entire article on How to Sell Your Timeshare The principles in that article for (1) up-front fees, (2) where to list your week, (3) scams to avoid, (4) timely and accurate information, and (5) cold calls from those asking for a fee to sell your week for you all apply equally to rentals.
• There are three sample rental agreements in the TUG Advice section here: Timeshare Rental Articles, feel free to download them and modify them to suit your needs!
• Some would suggest listing your week for rent for the amount of your maintenance fees. Unfortunately, there is rarely a direct correlation between such fees and the fair rental value of your week. If you really want to rent it, offer it at a price that will get it rented and simply use your annual maintenance fee as a baseline for comparison!

TIPS FOR RENTERS

• The most secure way to rent is to use an escrow company that holds the money until AFTER the check-out date. Realistically many landlords will tell you to take a hike – there are so many folks who want to rent and have no problem paying the entire amount up front and without an escrow agent. Also of course using a legitimate escrow service costs money.
• Ask to get a copy of the reservation BEFORE you pay money. Ask for a phone number to the resort and verify the reservation. Unfortunately the landlord can easily call up and reassign the renters name to someone else. Word processors and ink jet printers can duplicate just about any document and have it looking real. Getting someone to pose as the resort takes just a throw away cell phone. However in most cases you can contact the resort directly and verify much of the information needed to ensure the owner both has what they are claiming to offer for rent, and is able to rent to a 3rd party.
• Get a rental agreement that spells out what’s involved. (free samples on TUG) However, if something goes wrong are you going to hire a lawyer at $200 per hour to fight a $1,000 rental – not likely, so its important you feel comfortable about the transaction before any money changes hands!
• Note about Paypal: after recent discussions on the TUGBBS forums, it has been determined that using PAYPAL to RENT a timeshare is against their policies, and will not be covered under any of the normal protections provided by paypal for approved transactions. Basically what this means is that as a renter or a rentee, if a problem exists you are likely to find that paypal is not going to side with you one way or the other given the transaction was for a Timeshare Rental. Some new options for safely using a 3rd party to facilitate a rental transaction are discussed here: TUGBBS THREAD ABOUT RENTING TIMESHARES

TIPS FOR LANDORDS

• Get 100% of the money prior to check in, and ensure you explain any options for a refund or cancellation! there are so many flakey renters out there who change their mind that taking a deposit and finding out 30 days before check-in that the renter is not going forward means a loss of a lot of money.
• Get a rental agreement and make sure that the person supplies a copy of their driver’s license and prove that they are at least 21 years old. Many resorts require the person checking in to be at least that old.
• Get a 10% security deposit returnable 14 days after check-out, ensure the details of the refundable deposit are included in your rental agreement! You would be surprised how folks want that deposit back and don’t trash the place.
• Call the resort 14 days before check-in and double check the reservation and ask for special handling like no smoking rooms or rooms that face a certain direction, etc. Much easier to make this call early than field a late night call from a frantic renter from the check in desk!
• Call the resort 1 day after check-out and confirm that there were no problems. The renter has to put up a credit card when checking in but if they max out and there is damage the resort will come calling on you. Find out before you return the security deposit.

crazy this post was started almost 20 years ago (well, likely even before that in the webpage format and the previous version of the forum).


anywhoo, shows it was last updated in 2020...and the website version was updated in 2021...but I think some of these items are due for a much needed refresher!

what would you change with these suggestions? much of the changes I see are really just updated wording/language for the most point....but im sure there are a few bullet points that can be added!

here is a link to the online version of our how to rent guide:

OP (original poster), I suggest that you modify the title of this thread to "..Rent your DIRECTLY OWNED Timeshare".
The information in the red italic typeface is VITALLY IMPORTANT.
Owners of timeshares in points/exchange programs are (usually) prohibited from renting their timeshares.

At least one timeshare company (BlueGreen) has started enforcing their no-rental policy by locking owners out of their website booking access due to "non-compliance" with the no-rental policy. Once blocked, getting cleared and having owner access restored is a long and painful process.
Owners of timeshares in such programs must either register non-owner users as "authorized users" (and there may be family connection documentation necessary) or utilize (if there is one) a "Guest Certificate" program within the specific timeshare system.

This crackdown on "rentals" is (my opinion) inspired by vacation club members' complaints that timeshares are unavailable for booking within the specific timeshare system, but show up as "available for rent" in third-party sites such as AirBnB or through sites such as Facebook.

<edit> in the past 90 days I have received any number of phone calls inviting me to "rent" my bonus time for my timeshare ownership for absurdly large "profits" to "cover my maintenance fees". These are commercial re-renters and are likely ALSO the target of timeshare companies' crackdown.

Has anyone successfully rented out there TS on AirB&B using RCI last call rentals?

lerr001 said:

Has anyone successfully rented out there TS on AirB&B using RCI last call rentals?

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RCI rules prevent you from renting out last call and Extra Vacation bookings. I suspect you received a cold call from someone claiming you can and if you pay them a certain dollar amount that they will rent them for you and turn you a big profit? If that is the case, it is a scam. If this is just some business plan you came up with yourself, it isn't a good idea. First the restriction previously mentioned, but also the huge risk in making last call bookings and then them not renting.

dioxide45 said:

RCI rules prevent you from renting out last call and Extra Vacation bookings. I suspect you received a cold call from someone claiming you can and if you pay them a certain dollar amount that they will rent them for you and turn you a big profit? If that is the case, it is a scam. If this is just some business plan you came up with yourself, it isn't a good idea. First the restriction previously mentioned, but also the huge risk in making last call bookings and then them not renting.

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Thank you for your response. would that rule from RCI also include normal stays with renting them out?

lerr001 said:

Thank you for your response. would that rule from RCI also include normal stays with renting them out?

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Yes. The terms and conditions you agree to when reserving with RCI (and II is the same) prohibit you from renting timeshares that you book fhrough them, regardless of whether it's an Exhange, Last Call, Extra Vacation, Getaway, etc.

Obviously some people do it, and they don't catch everyone every single time, but when they do it usually results in account suspension or even lifetime bans.

It also means that your guest would not be allowed to check in, creating possible legal liabilities to you as the renter.

are still plenty of systems that provide owners to rent units or reservations within point systems. Especially your home/underlying week etc.

the rental guide in no way shape or form expresses one can rent an exchange. That has never been permitted, thought it clearly still happens regularly.

Hi:

I am interested in renting and I saw that to advertise it was 1 credit. Is there a way to boost it being seen? Is there a certain site people have better results with than others.

Danielle

TUG does not provide an option to boost a listing in the marketplace, all listings are equal.

I've read several articles on the Florida Tourist Development Tax. If I rent my directly owned week, am I required to file and pay this tax?

wrobinson said:

Folks, you are far behind the rest of us. There are now books and online courses you can take to learn how to cancel your timeshare or deed it back to the resort without hiring a service or worrying about affecting your credit. We're almost in 2025, far from 2004. Lots have changed. Google search "timeshare cancellation courses."

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If you google 'timeshare cancellation courses', you will end up in a rabbit hole of timeshare scams.
The only 'timeshare cancellation course' you need is: you signed a contract. There is no magic wand to make it disappear. Your choices to get rid of it are: get somebody else to take it over, give it back if they will take it, or default on your financial obligations for maintenance fees or mortgage.

No fee required for the above 'timeshare cancellation course'. You are welcome....

wrobinson said:

Folks, you are far behind the rest of us. There are now books and online courses you can take to learn how to cancel your timeshare or deed it back to the resort without hiring a service or worrying about affecting your credit. We're almost in 2025, far from 2004. Lots have changed. Google search "timeshare cancellation courses."

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Under no circumstances should anyone google “timeshare cancellation” anything and follow those links. Researching whether the resort has a deedback program is good advice, but short of that or selling/giving it away, there is no “magical way” to get rid of a timeshare that somehow exists in 2024 but didn’t exist in 2004.

agreed, i cant think of worse advice than someone googling "timeshare cancellation"...as the chances of them finding anything other than links to scams is around 1%

Fido Chuckwagon said:

Under no circumstances should anyone google “timeshare cancellation” anything and follow those links. Researching whether the resort has a deedback program is good advice, but short of that or selling/giving it away, there is no “magical way” to get rid of a timeshare that somehow exists in 2024 but didn’t exist in 2004.

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Also, don't sign up for your "free timeshare cancellation guide". I hear this on radio commercials from WF. You will just be inundated with calls.

wrobinson said:

Legally" getting rid of a timeshare is like taking candy from a baby. However, the timeshare cancellation industry would rather you think otherwise. It's your money.

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First of all, googling “timeshare cancellation” anything pops up all the links to the timeshare cancellation scams. It’s a bad idea. The top link when I googled that was Wesley Financial Group, a well known scam.

Second of all, there is, and never has been, a magical way to “cancel a timeshare.” Can you cancel your house? A timeshare is deeded real property. Anyone trying to sell you a “course” on how to “cancel” your timeshare is full of ****. There is only one guaranteed way to get rid of a timeshare, and you don’t need a “course” to teach you how to do that. That way is to stop making payments. Eventually the HOA will foreclose on you and you will no longer have a timeshare. You will likely experience a significant credit hit.

Some resorts do have deedback programs, and it is possible to sell or give away some timeshares, but it is not possible to do any of those three if you still have a mortgage on it. If you do, the only thing you can do is stop paying. Maybe there are some tiny edge cases where you can negotiate a deed in lieu or a deedback. Telling people to “google timeshare cancellation courses” as if some magical legal thing has changed between 2004 and 2024 is absurd. Anyone offering such a “course” is really just selling something and hoping that people will buy what they are selling. They would do much better to just read the threads on TUG.

As an attorney with 18 years of experience in fields that include real property and foreclosure law, I’ll put my 3 year legal degree and 18 years of practice up against a google search for YouTube videos of how to cancel a real estate contract any day of the week.

everyone should realize mr robinson is shilling for his own book/product on timeshares, I guess now hes now into the timeshare exit game. I cant recall the number of posts on the TUG facebook pages ive deleted where is is promoting his own product and now even more here.

folks if you are looking for a 100% guaranteed way to exit your timeshare, here it is for free. paying someone for this information is foolish.


*spoiler alert, stop paying for it

TUGBrian said:

everyone should realize mr robinson is shilling for his own book/product on timeshares

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That explains why he’s giving such terrible advice. I hope people see your post before giving him any money.